He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor's degree in public administration.
[2] Gotch's public career began in the 1970s as president of the Mission Beach Town Council while working as analyst and then director for the San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission.
[4] He was appointed to the Stadium Authority Board from 1988 to 1990 and was instrumental in instituting a smoking ban in the facility.
[2] He worked on former Sen. Gary Hart's short-lived presidential campaign before returning to run for a beach-area Assembly district.
In April 2012, the San Diego City Council officially renamed the 260-foot Rose Creek Bikeway and Pedestrian Bridge as the Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge, which now connects a bike and pedestrian path that traverses around Mission Bay.